Books on Trout & Salmon for fishermen

[markrrr]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some good books on trout biology & Life Cycle with details on behaviours including feeding, holding in rivers and what to look for in lakes. For now mainly looking for freshwater as I don't have a seaworthy boat yet (although I may get a kayak for some kayak fishing).

Most interested in rainbows but also the other species of lake and river trout, and of course also salmonids...

I'm a new fisherman and I'm finding it pretty confusing to know what to look for out there, in the water- how to set up at different depths with different presentations, depending on the season, fish and conditions... I like to understand why, and just asking folks what is working for them that day is not really giving me the insight I'd like into the how and why of where fish are and what they are eating that day.

Are there any trout biology books out there that cater more to the fisherman?

Thanks so much,
Mark

 

[markrrr]

Oh yeah, and forgot to mention I'm fishing gear, not fly. Although I sometimes troll flies like a wooly bugger behind my little Fishcat.

 

[Rotten Ronnie]

OK, first of all full disclosure, I'm going to try to convince you to fly fish rather than fish gear, assuming that means what I call hardware, or the whirling blades of death (gang trolls and such) First off you're fishing on a pontoon boat (fishcat) probably without a motor which means you have to remain in motion in order to keep your gear operating and off the bottom. This means constant rowing or kicking your fins, great exercise, but it gets old fast. With a fly rod you can choose anything from a full floating line to a full sinking line with half a dozen lines in between that will keep your fly at the depth you figure the fish are at. When you fly fish on your pontoon boat you can now relax and even stop rowing, this is also a good tactic as it lets the fly slowly sink, start rowing again and the fly becomes much more interesting to the fish. This doesn't have to be expensive, a 5-6 weight fly rod with reel, dry line and sinking line on separate spools and some leader and a few flies is a good start. You don't have to learn how to cast right away , trolling flies can be very productive. Most smaller interior B.C. Lakes are quite shallow, like 25-30 feet with the odd hole reaching 75-100 so they lend themselves well to fly fishing. As to books, The Gilly by Alfred G. Davey is all about lake and river fishing in B.C. and will teach you how to read lakes and determine what fish are feeding on at the moment etc. B.C. Backroad Mapbooks will show you where to fish. If you're still not convinced, by all means get a 12' tinny and a 9.9 and stick with the hardware, but the books will still be helpful.

 

[Kildonan]

Where will you be fishing, Mark? What region of the province?

 

[markrrr]

OK, first of all full disclosure, I'm going to try to convince you to fly fish rather than fish gear, assuming that means what I call hardware, or the whirling blades of death (gang trolls and such) First off you're fishing on a pontoon boat (fishcat) probably without a motor which means you have to remain in motion in order to keep your gear operating and off the bottom. This means constant rowing or kicking your fins, great exercise, but it gets old fast. With a fly rod you can choose anything from a full floating line to a full sinking line with half a dozen lines in between that will keep your fly at the depth you figure the fish are at. When you fly fish on your pontoon boat you can now relax and even stop rowing, this is also a good tactic as it lets the fly slowly sink, start rowing again and the fly becomes much more interesting to the fish. This doesn't have to be expensive, a 5-6 weight fly rod with reel, dry line and sinking line on separate spools and some leader and a few flies is a good start. You don't have to learn how to cast right away , trolling flies can be very productive. Most smaller interior B.C. Lakes are quite shallow, like 25-30 feet with the odd hole reaching 75-100 so they lend themselves well to fly fishing. As to books, The Gilly by Alfred G. Davey is all about lake and river fishing in B.C. and will teach you how to read lakes and determine what fish are feeding on at the moment etc. B.C. Backroad Mapbooks will show you where to fish. If you're still not convinced, by all means get a 12' tinny and a 9.9 and stick with the hardware, but the books will still be helpful.

Thanks for that recommendation (and fly-fishing persuasion). I'm open to learning new techniques! I ordered the Gilly book so let's see what that inspires!!!

 

[markrrr]

Where will you be fishing, Mark? What region of the province?

Well, I tend to find myself around Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland, and Interior (Fraser Canyon, Lillooet, Merritt, Kamloops), but have also been known to travel North (Chilcotin - Tatla, and farther to Skeena River). I'm willing to go farther to spend time in really good fisheries!!! and hopefully volunteer some time towards improving salmon/trout habitat projects.

 

[sly_karma]

OK, first of all full disclosure, I'm going to try to convince you to fly fish rather than fish gear, assuming that means what I call hardware, or the whirling blades of death (gang trolls and such) First off you're fishing on a pontoon boat (fishcat) probably without a motor which means you have to remain in motion in order to keep your gear operating and off the bottom. This means constant rowing or kicking your fins, great exercise, but it gets old fast. With a fly rod you can choose anything from a full floating line to a full sinking line with half a dozen lines in between that will keep your fly at the depth you figure the fish are at. When you fly fish on your pontoon boat you can now relax and even stop rowing, this is also a good tactic as it lets the fly slowly sink, start rowing again and the fly becomes much more interesting to the fish. This doesn't have to be expensive, a 5-6 weight fly rod with reel, dry line and sinking line on separate spools and some leader and a few flies is a good start. You don't have to learn how to cast right away , trolling flies can be very productive. Most smaller interior B.C. Lakes are quite shallow, like 25-30 feet with the odd hole reaching 75-100 so they lend themselves well to fly fishing. As to books, The Gilly by Alfred G. Davey is all about lake and river fishing in B.C. and will teach you how to read lakes and determine what fish are feeding on at the moment etc. B.C. Backroad Mapbooks will show you where to fish. If you're still not convinced, by all means get a 12' tinny and a 9.9 and stick with the hardware, but the books will still be helpful.

OK who let the feather chucker start talking!!! Seriously though, Ronnie makes some good points. Flies can be trolled or cast and you can flip back and forth between techniques just as he says. Or you could put an electric on your kayak or fish cat and have lots of options that way too.